


Something Evil Lurking In The Dark

by Imogen_LeFay



Category: Glee
Genre: Halloween, Haunted House, Light Anxiety, M/M, No panic attack this time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:22:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26855893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imogen_LeFay/pseuds/Imogen_LeFay
Summary: "Let’s do a haunted house."Blaine really should know better than follow anything Santana suggests.A haunted house proves just a bit too much, when a friendly demon steps in to save the night.Kind of.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Sebastian Smythe
Comments: 8
Kudos: 48





	Something Evil Lurking In The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Me: Can't write, work, thesis.  
> Everyone: Halloween.  
> Me: ...can't thesis, must write.
> 
> So yeah, got kind of swept up in the whole halloween/fall spirit already, as well as my chronic procrastination syndrome. So have a silly, short thing.  
> Title is from Thriller by Michael Jackson, story super loosely inspired by the Amsterdam Dungeon aka my last vacation before the apocalypse started. Yay!
> 
> Oh, almost forgot, here's what you missed on Canon Divergence: Klaine didn't get back together, Kurt is dating Adam, Tina is also in New York, so Blamtina got a place together. Mercedes just moved into the city as well and her and Sam are kinda sorta almost dating. And that's what you missed on canon divergence!

* * *

“You okay, dude?”

Blaine’s head shoots up, and he finds everyone’s eyes on him. It makes him feel just a bit crowded, although that’s probably mostly in his own head. Nobody can complain that the loft Kurt and Rachel share with Santana is too small. There are lots of other complaints, and Blaine is definitely grateful that the place he lives in with Sam and Tina actually has separate rooms. Unfortunately, it’s also on the small side, if not to say tiny, so when they meet – as the New Directions Alumni New York Division – it’s usually at the Bushwick loft. Like now, where over the usual small talk about NYADA madness, Blaine had drifted off back into his own thoughts, mostly that mail Alec had sent him.

“Sorry, just… I didn’t sleep that well,” Blaine says, waving off Sam’s concern with a smile that should fool 90% of the people present.

“I told you, a glass of warm milk does wonders,” Kurt said. “That, and a thorough skin care routine.”

“Although that’s probably not for everyone. Then again, I think we’ve all been there. I mean, who doesn’t know stress induced insomnia?” Adam says, painfully polite as always to the point that Blaine can’t even find a shred of antipathy for his ex’s new boyfriend.

“We haven’t all wasted the night away playing some dumb brawl game with Sam,” Kurt mutters.

“Super Smash Brothers isn’t dumb, you need like strategy,” Sam protests. “And that was totally on Tina!”

“I buy that,” Artie says, “she’s vicious.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Tina says, cheerful as ever. “But that still doesn’t get us anywhere with our Halloween plans.”

The discussion picks back up, and this time Blaine finds himself paying attention. The most prominent idea is apparently a horror movie marathon, but the opinions are divided.

“It could be awesome,” Tina insists. “Spooky decorations, Halloween themed food…”

“And the bloodiest, creepiest movies we can pirate,” Santana continues.

“Exactly!” Tina says, and for once the two girls look at each other in total agreement.

“I’m not so sure about horror movies.”

They turn around to Rachel, who’s shifting around a bit uncomfortably.

“I really should have seen that coming,” Santana says, rolling her eyes.

“Look, I do admire the lung capacity some of these actresses have, but I just don’t understand the concept of wanting to be afraid,” Rachel says. “Besides, when I get scared, I scream, and I really can’t risk any more stress on my vocal cords than necessary.”

“Not to mention that most horror movies are just cheap jump scares and gore,” Kurt adds. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t do a movie night themed around Halloween without it being spooky.”

“And how would we do that?” Blaine asks, at least attempting to humor him. He’s already pretty sure that neither Tina nor Santana would be too lenient with their commentary. Sam just looks confused, but Artie at least seems interested.

“I’ve actually been thinking about a program that will satisfy both Halloween motives as well as our more artistic sensibilities,” Kurt explains. “We can start with the holiday classic, the Nightmare Before Christmas. We follow it up with the brilliant Sondheim masterpiece, Sweeney Todd. And we finish with nothing other than the Rocky Horror Picture Show!”

While Blaine still considers that movie selection, Santana clearly already made up her mind.

“Lame. Let’s do a haunted house.”

“Like… turn this place haunted?” Sam asks, looking around. “I mean, I get it in general, but don’t you need people dying for that? That doesn’t sound like the best plan…”

“I love haunted houses!” Tina exclaims. “We should absolutely do that!”

“Well, obviously I’d prefer the movie night,” Artie says, “although I’m not quite on board with that particular movie selection.”

Kurt is clearly not too thrilled with these reactions. “That list is the perfect mix,” he says, looking around for support.

“Well, I think it’s pretty good,” Rachel says.

Kurt turns to Mercedes, but she too shakes her head. “Sorry, boo, but I’ll go with the haunted house.”

“Maybe we can spice up the playlist?” Adam suggests, awkwardly patting Kurt’s arm. “We could throw in a few non-musical, actual spooky things in. Some more artistic movies, that won’t freak out Rachel too much? And there’s this one Doctor Who episode, it’s called Blink, it’s really creepy, but you don’t have to know anything about the show, I think you might like it.”

Blaine silently shakes his head no, because… well, he’s been down that path, and he knows Adam isn’t doing himself any favors here.

“I think I can whip up a suitable movie list,” Artie says. “Just leave it to me, I can salvage this.”

“And maybe after the Haunted House we can go over and watch something together,” Mercedes suggests.

“That’s settled then,” Santana says, her smirk just a bit too self-satisfied. “And also, I happen to know just the place…”

* * *

It’s chilly as they stand in line, waiting for their slot. Blaine isn’t quite sure how Santana found the place, and like with most things Santana-related, he thinks it might be better not to ask too many questions.

The girls are absolutely thrilled about it, with Santana throwing the occasional jab at Artie’s impossible task of saving the movie night. As Sam gives his best impression of Jack Nicholson, mostly to make Mercedes laugh, Blaine finds his own thoughts drifting off again.

It’s nothing, really, at least nothing that should throw him off like this. But it’s been years since he heard from Alec. They only talked once after their disastrous Sadie Hawkins date, and that was basically Alec telling him his family was moving, he’d transfer schools, and thought it would be best not to stay in contact. He didn’t directly cast blame for how that night ended, maybe feeling too bad for how Blaine was still in the hospital at the time. And now, after years, he decides to ask if they can “talk things out”, like there really is anything to talk about. So far, Blaine’s ignored the mail, but it’s always there at the back of his mind.

Basically, he hasn’t really slept well in days, and his mind is drawn back to things he’d rather not think about far too often.

Maybe he should talk to someone, but there really isn’t anyone available. He told Kurt once about the Sadie Hawkins dance, but it had been brushed aside in favor of the McKinley prom. Both Sam and Tina know a bare-bones version, one he watered down to the point that neither really had a chance to understand the severity. Really, so far there was one person who showed an appropriate reaction, but… well, they’d burned that bridge.

Finally, they’re admitted into the building. They gather in a room with a – hopefully fake – guillotine placed in the middle, and slowly, more people stream in. Blaine tries to focus onto the excitement in his friends’ faces, not on how it’s getting just slightly claustrophobic in here. It takes another ten to fifteen minutes until the door is closed, and a girl in a black gothic outfit steps up onto the guillotine, looking around, before spreading her arms and smiling, showing sharp vampire teeth.

“Welcome, my dearies.”

The introduction is pretty basic from what Blaine understands. Their group will walk through a maze, passing different scenes and horrors. On Halloween, rules would be changed. While normally, there’s apparently a strong no-touch rule, it would be suspended just for tonight. The thing he hasn’t expected is the theme. It’s nothing about ghosts and demons, but rather about serial killers of New York.

Well… it could be interesting, he tells himself. Although he’s starting to think he really isn’t in the right mood to do this.

They go into an elevator first. It rattles, and the ride goes on so long that Blaine is pretty sure it’s a trick, but eventually the door opens, and they walk outside. They step into what looks like a basement with a pool table in the middle, covered in plastic sheets as if they’re in an episode of Dexter. The lighting is cold, and there’s the occasional flicker. Then, it goes completely dark for a moment, and in the next, there’s a body lying on the pool table, and a man standing behind it, wearing a butcher’s apron and holding a too large knife.

“Hello, friends. You are my friends, right? Oh, I should introduce myself first. My name is Calvin, and I’m always looking for friends. Like her.” He points to the body on the table, which turns out to be a young woman whose eyes look like they’re sewed shut. The makeup isn’t perfect, but Blaine is actually a bit relieved about that.

“She could see,” Calvin continues, “but she always looks. Now, _he_ didn’t like that.”

For another moment, it’s completely dark. Blaine feels a movement before him, and…

The light turns on, and there’s a huge figure in front of him, a demon’s face staring down at him from underneath a mask, and Blaine stumbles backwards, almost falling into Sam as he gasps, just so manages not to scream.

It’s dark again, and when the light returns, the demon figure has stepped behind Calvin. It’s tall, wearing a bulking black cloak, and as Calvin talks about the voices he hears that tell him to kill people, Blaine tries to control his breathing, even as his pulse is pounding in his ears.

The scene ends, and they leave the room under always flickering light.

Honestly, this is not as much fun as Blaine thought it would be. The stroboscopic light disorients him. In the darkness, people are brushing against him, more than once he feels a hand grab his ankle, sending a shock of fear through him _. It’s nothing, just acting, it’s not real,_ he tells himself, catching his breath in the recurring scenes, but it’s not helping. In the dark corridors, he loses track of his friends. Sam’s staying close the longest, but then they hear Mercedes screaming and he hurries forward, leaving Blaine behind, just as they walk into what looks like a dark hall. From somewhere in front of him, he can hear Mercedes’ voice, apparently calm. He hurries to follow them, but a figure appears in front of him, and he stops, turns around, tries to find his way.

He turns again and stands in front of himself. He looks around, and suddenly, there are more people than he thought. It takes him a moment to realize, they are surrounded by mirrors.

A mirror cabinet, and probably, somewhere, there’s a way out. Or at least to the next scene. He keeps wandering, but the light seems to dim, until it’s almost too dark to see. He follows the group as well as he can, but apart from some reflections of bright colored clothes, he can’t make out anyone. He looks up and just stops himself from running into someone – only to realize he once again stands in front of his reflection. A few tiny lights appear on the floor and the ceiling, blinking, just enough to stop him from running into walls. But there are no walls. There are just mirrors.

It’s getting too much, too claustrophobic, and Blaine knows this isn’t real, it’s just a game, just acting, but he feels panic clutching at his throat. He stops and closes his eyes, forces himself to breathe, but once he closes his eyes, he’s back in the parking lot, terrified, and he tears his eyes open, gasping for air, but it’s pitch black around him. A second later, the tiny lights start blinking again. He looks around, but now he can’t see anyone, none of his friends, none of the strangers in his group.

Alone, and surrounded by mirrors. He isn’t sure how long he took to breathe, not that it helped, but… the group has moved on, and he’s left behind.

He has to keep moving. He starts walking, holding up his hands in front of him to make sure he doesn’t run into anything. But everywhere, he sees himself, shades of his reflection, blinking with the lights around him. He stumbles over something on the ground, and just so catches himself before falling.

When he looks up, he isn’t faced with his reflection. Instead, it’s a hulking figure, towering over him, and it takes him another moment to recognize it as the demon from the earlier scene. A gloved hand reaches out, takes hold of his arm, and then he’s pulled along to where there’d been a mirror just a second before. Something slides shut behind them, and he finds himself in a pitch-black room. A moment later there’s click, and a small lamp flickers to life.

The room is small, but he can see corridors leading from there, probably behind the scenes of the mirror cabinet.

He turns around, and the demon figure is still there. He’s tall, towering more than a head over Blaine, his cloak falling from too wide shoulders, a hood shadowing that grotesque mask.

Blaine finds himself stepping back on instinct. Panic is constricting his throat, and it almost feels like he can’t breathe.

Not real, he tells himself. That’s just an actor.

But then again, demons weren’t a danger. People were.

The figure moves closer, slowly, and-

“Stop.” To his own surprise, Blaine finds his voice again. “Please, just… please stop. I-“

“Hey,” the figure says, and the voice sounds gentle, calm as it raises a hand to push back the hood and take hold of the mask. “Relax, killer. It’s okay.”

Relief floods Blaine as he recognizes the voice, that ridiculous nickname, and then, as the mask is pulled back, the face.

“ _Sebastian._ ”

He looks different, his hair disheveled from being under the mask, shorter than the last time they’d seen each other, and his face distorted by the dark makeup around his eyes. But the grin is the same, as is the way his eyes wander over Blaine’s form, as always forcing him to have to suppress a blush.

“What are you doing here?” Blaine asks, trying to mask the embarrassment, not only at getting checked out, but more about his earlier panic.

Sebastian’s eyebrows rise up, and there’s definitely a hint of judgment in his eyes, but he’s just grinning wider as he answers. “Uh, I’m kind of working,” he says.

Such a dumb thing to say, and it reminds Blaine of the first time they met, his inane question if tall, confident Sebastian was a _freshman_ , only to suppress what he’d actually thought… _your voice gave me chills_ …

“Right,” Blaine says, raking a hand through his hair, as if that could help with the ever-rising embarrassment. “I just… I had no idea you were in New York.”

“NYU,” Sebastian says, “still figuring out what I want to do, honestly. This is a side gig. I mean, I literally get paid for scaring the crap out of people. It’s kind of perfect. So, imagine my surprise when I show up at the scene, and I look around and damn it if I don’t recognize that hair.” His grin drops a little, and he gets more serious as he continued. “But then, it didn’t look like you were exactly having the time of your life, so I thought I might keep an eye on you. It seemed like you were honestly freaking out. And once you got lost in the mirror cabinet… well, I just thought you could use a break.”

Blaine’s shoulders sag, and he nods. “That… was a pretty good call,” he admits. “I just… I’ve been in a haunted house before, but they were mostly about ghosts or things like that. This… it’s just a bit too real. And it’s been bringing up some memories that I’d rather forget.”

Just the hint of a frown, and it looks like Sebastian wants to ask, but then his eyes widen.

He remembers, and so does Blaine.

He didn’t plan to talk about it back then, but they were talking about dances, and somehow it had slipped out. He told him a short version at first, but by then it came almost as a shock, the way Sebastian listened, actually seemed upset about what happened to him. He asked questions, and Blaine found himself opening up, talking about not only the pain and fear, but also about how angry he felt, how lost, how he was the victim but also apparently the only one who suffered any consequences. Sebastian was kind of subdued for the rest of the day, like he had a hard time coming to terms with this. Blaine understood, in a way. This was too real for someone who took everything as a joke. But Sebastian took this seriously… took him seriously.

“Well,” Sebastian says eventually, “then I’m really glad I pulled you out of that.”

“So, what now?” Blaine asks.

Sebastian shrugs. “Your group will be in here for about half an hour,” he says, “so I suggest I’ll just take you through the backstage to the last stop, and then I’ll put you right back in time for the final scene, and nobody will know. I can smuggle you back in earlier, if you want to, of course…”

“No,” Blaine says quickly, “I… I think I’ll skip it. That sounds great.”

Sebastian takes his arm again and starts leading him through one of the corridors. It’s only then that Blaine notices something else, just why he’d seemed so hulking.

“Are you wearing stilts? You’re not that much taller than me…”

Sebastian laughs. “Plateau boots,” he says. “Also, the most insane shoulder pads.” He pulls the cloak aside to show them. “Apparently, I’m too scrawny.” His nose crinkles in distaste, and for the first time this evening, Blaine is laughing. It feels liberating.

They end up in another barely lit room, although Blaine can see more light streaming in from under a door. There are benches standing around, and he sits. Sebastian disappears for just a moment and returns with two Styrofoam cups filled with a red liquid. It’s some sort of mulled wine, and Blaine feels his smile widen as he starts sipping.

There’s still time to fill, but as always, Blaine finds it almost too easy, too comfortable to slip into conversation with Sebastian. There’s so much catching up, so many things to share. As he talks about the general insanity of NYADA, which granted, McKinley at least kind of prepared him for, he’s surprised not only by how easy this is, but also how much he’s missed this. He always enjoyed their talks, how Sebastian provided not only snappy commentary, but always seemed like he got not only what Blaine said, but maybe even more the things he didn’t say. Looking back, it feels like such a waste that he didn’t reach out during senior year after getting to terms with his breakup. But was a fool, spending all of his last year in high school pining for someone who moved on.

Now, though, things are different. He’s really understood that things with Kurt are over for good – probably for the better, really. He’s not just single – he’s free. And somehow, through fate or whatever, he and Sebastian have ended up in the same place, found each other again. The connection is still there, the ease they can talk with, and if he judges the way Sebastian looks at him correctly, there’s definitely still interest.

Why not take a risk?

He’s just arrived at that conclusion when Sebastian perks up at some noise.

“Almost time”, he says. “Sounds like your group is at the second to last stop, they’re preparing the final.”

“Oh.” Blaine actually finds he’s a bit disappointed. This has been fun, and honestly, he could do this a lot longer. It’s only then he remembers that Sebastian probably can’t. He is working, after all. “You’re not going to get into trouble, right? For staying here with me?”

Sebastian waves him off. “Don’t worry. It happens, my coworkers will cover for me. Of course,” he says, his smirk back in full force, as he looks right at Blaine, “they’ll all assume we spent the entire time making out.” He winks, and it’s so clearly meant comical.

It would be easy to wave it off.

Blaine kind of doesn’t want to. Instead, he feels a rush of daring run through him. Now or never, he tells himself.

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that,” he says.

The smirk on Sebastian’s face drops just a bit. “Oh?”

Blaine shrugs, even as he starts grinning himself. “You know. A bunch of people, having false assumptions about me… Can’t have that.”

Before Sebastian can ask further questions, Blaine grabs his stupid cloak and pulls him closer, crashing their lips together. Sebastian doesn’t lose a second in kissing him back, his arms wrapping around Blaine to get him closer.

Blaine gasps into his mouth, and Sebastian deepens the kiss. One hand is in Blaine’s hair, and damn, is he glad that he’s been slowing down on the gel, because… yeah, wow, that feels good.

Eventually, too soon, Sebastian pulls back, a new appreciation in the way he looks at Blaine. “You know,” he says eventually, “that’s not going to help the rumors.”

Now Blaine is the one smirking. “But now they won’t be false.”

Sebastian laughs, and kisses him again, soft, and too short. “Only you, Blaine Anderson…”

Blaine really likes how that sounds. He just leans in for another kiss when Sebastian straightens up.

“We have to go,” he says, “as much as I hate to interrupt this… but otherwise I _will_ get into trouble.”

Blaine’s a bit disappointed, but he gets to his feet, and let’s Sebastian lead him to the door. Before he opens it, he looks down, and there’s just a hint of concern in his face that Blaine doesn’t quite get.

“Do you still have my number?” Sebastian asks.

And… oh. Not concern. Shyness.

Blaine’s smile softens, and he nods before pressing another kiss against Sebastian’s lips. “I’ll call you.”

It seems enough, and then he’s pushed through the door, ends up behind a curtain that he can slip through. He ends up in a bar setup, where the group has mostly assembled. It’s bright enough that he can find his friends and slips behind them. Sam is the first one who notices him.

“Dude, where’ve you been?” he asks. “We were worried!”

“I’m fine,” Blaine says, “just got whisked away by the demons.”

Santana turns, and there’s a spark in her eyes, as she gives him a knowing look. “Got your freak on, didn’t you?”

He rolls his eyes, and settles in against the wall, ignoring the way Sam looks at him questioningly. He barely even listens to the actor behind the bar giving them a spiel about a serial killer bartender who’d poisoned guests who annoyed the staff. Once the scene is over, they’re released into the cold October air. Blaine just follows his friends, listening to Santana and Tina rave about how amazing the house was.

Blaine smiles to himself, palming his phone in his pocket.

Sam is still watching him, as if trying to make sure he was okay.

“At least it was more fun than a lame movie marathon,” he says. “Right?”

Blaine smiles wider, his thoughts jumping from the way Sebastian’s lips had felt moving against his, to just what path opened up in front of him. Oh, he can’t wait to call.

“Right,” Blaine says, and he just lets himself enjoy that giddy feeling of possibility. “So much fun.”

**Author's Note:**

> Now also on tumblr as imogenlefay  
> ...no, I still don't get it.


End file.
